


Taking Root

by apolesen



Series: Complications [2]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Alien Planet, Episode: s04e25 Body Parts, F/F, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, Mentions of canonical pairings, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-25 03:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14968448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apolesen/pseuds/apolesen
Summary: Kira accompanies Keiko to Torad V, a planet described as a botanical paradise. There, things start taking root.





	Taking Root

Acting as pilot on a minor botanical expedition was not among Kira’s usual duties. It was a job for someone more junior, but she had volunteered. The idea of being planet-side for three days was attractive. Even if she went to Bajor once a month or so, sunlight felt like a luxury. 

Torad V had been described by the Vulcan expedition that first charted it as a botanical paradise. Kira knew nothing about plants, but it did not take away any of the enjoyment. Earlier that day the sunlight had barely penetrated the canopy of trees, but now, the light filtered through, turned greenish by the vegetation. Kira turned her face up, relishing the warmth. It might be an alien sun, but it felt beautifully familiar. 

‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ 

She looked over at Keiko, who was kneeling on the ground where she had been arranging her samples. Now, she had put the containers down and was looking around. 

‘It is,’ Kira agreed. She sat down beside her, pushing aside her self-imposed role as security. There were no reports of predators on Torad V, but she had not taken any chances, hovering close to Keiko and keeping her hand by her phaser. Now, sitting beside her, she felt more relaxed than she had for weeks. 

‘I’d heard it was fantastic, but…’ Keiko looked up at the trees. Few of them had any branches for the first ten metres, giving the impression that they were in a large, green hall. Her face shone with delight. 

‘It’s as interesting as you hoped?’ Kira said.

‘Better,’ she said. ‘Much better. Look at this.’ She held up a glass phial, containing a sapling. ‘The root-system of this tree is of a type that we see in the beta quadrant a lot, but it’s never been found in the gamma quadrant before, and certain aspects of the leaves are unlike anything I’ve seen before…’ She cut herself off and smiled, putting the phial down. ‘I get carried away.’ 

‘I’m happy to listen,’ Kira said. ‘Although I should warn you, I can’t tell a _bamat_ from a _kestor_.’ 

Keiko laughed. 

‘But they’re so different! The _bamat_ has round green leaves, and the _kestor’_ s leaves have red undersides.’ 

‘I know, I know. I’ve just never been able to make it stick,’ Kira said. ‘I forget which one’s which and then I confuse them with the _ratrec_ , as that has red leaves too… But I know they’ve got a different shape.’ She traced the shape, like an elongated heart. Keiko smiled. 

‘The botanical term is obcordate.’ 

‘I’ll try to remember it,’ Kira said, smiling back. 

‘It’s not really the kind of word you have much use for, unless you’re talking to a botanist.’ She put her hands on the ground and leaned back, letting her head fall back. She was still smiling, but there was something wistful in her eye now. 

‘Keiko?’ 

She shook herself and looked at Kira. 

‘I’m just thinking,’ she said. ‘This might be one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. I wish we had more time here.’ 

‘We can go back,’ Kira said. (Why had she said _we_? Why assume that she would be the one to pilot the runabout next time? Had Keiko’s ‘we’ meant ‘we, the expedition’, or ‘we, you and me’?) ‘At some point.’

Keiko laughed. 

‘Not for a while.’ She put her hand on her round stomach. ‘I’ll have my hands full.’ Letting her hand fall, she shrugged. ‘Then again, there are always baby-sitters.’ 

‘True,’ Kira said. Keiko drew a deep breath and released it. 

‘Listen to that,’ she said. ‘Just the wind and the trees.’ She paused, listening. ‘When I got back from Bajor, I couldn’t sleep for days. I wasn’t used to how noisy for station is.’ 

‘I know what you mean,’ Kira said. Even in the most isolated quarters, there was the constant sound of machinery. Here, all she could hear was the soft rustling of leaves and the sound of Keiko’s breathing. She chanced a glance at her. Keiko had closed her eyes, concentrating only on the sound. A lock of hair had started working its way out of her hair-clasp. Kira wanted to reach out and tuck it behind her ear, or maybe take out her hair-clasp and comb through her hair with her fingers. She wanted to touch her, enough that the skin in her hands seemed to ache. Fighting the urge, she closed her eyes. She tried to think of other things – docking procedures, the route from Torad V to the wormhole, the by-election in Dahkur province – anything, just not the woman sitting beside her. 

Keiko’s hand touched hers. Kira opened her eyes and found herself looking into Keiko’s. She smiled softly.

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘For coming with me.’ 

Kira smiled back, unable to stop herself. 

‘Of course.’ 

‘I’m glad I have the company,’ Keiko said. She pressed Kira’s hand. Kira felt like she might laugh, though why she did not know. All at once, she was very happy and really rather uncomfortable. 

‘There’s Doctor Bashir,’ Kira said. 

Keiko snorted with laughter. Kira did not blame her. When he had not been fretting over Keiko, the doctor had spent most of the mission tripping over branches and scaring off small animals. Kira felt he was there mostly as a stand-in for the chief, who had spent days trying to talk his wife out of going to Torad V. Seeing her like this, with the green light playing over her hair, Kira could think of no reason to keep her away from this place. She was even more beautiful in real sunshine. She felt her insides flutter. The urge to kiss her seemed to throb against her skin.

‘You have a leaf in your hair,’ Keiko said and reached out. Kira felt her fingers brush through her hair. The heel of her hand ghosted against her temple. If she turned her head, she could have kissed her wrist. ‘There.’ She withdrew her hand and let the leaf fall to the ground. 

‘Not botanically interesting?’ Kira asked. She had to cut the tension somehow. 

‘I’ve got samples of this one,’ Keiko said, picking up the leaf again. ‘It _is_ interesting. I think I’ll write something on it. But I think that it’s better to run my tests on something fresher than this one.’ She looked at it. ‘Besides, the sample description would be odd. “One leaf, visually similar to sample thirty-four, retrieved from Major Kira Nerys’ hair.”’

They both laughed. When she laughed, Keiko’s eyes sparkled and her nose crinkled. Kira could not think of anything she would not do for her. All she wanted in return was to touch her, just once, just a little. The lock of hair that had been slipped out of Keiko’s hair-clasp fell into her face. Keiko tucked it back behind her ear. 

‘Can I…?’ 

She smiled and turned her back to her. Kira undid the hair-clasp and handed it to her to hold. Using her fingers, she combed through her hair. It was softer than Bajoran. She wondered if that was a human trait, or just Keiko. It was fine enough that it was little wonder the clasp did not keep its grip. Kira made a short braid, just a few twists to keep it together, and snapped the hair-clasp on again. 

‘Thanks,’ Keiko said, feeling the plait. ‘I wish I had a mirror.’ 

‘It suits you,’ Kira said. 

Keiko smiled broadly.

The impulse rose in Kira with such force that it alone seemed to propel her forwards. The kiss landed not quite on her mouth, as she had intended, but just under her lower lip. Keiko gave a small, startled gasp. Kira braced herself to be pushed away or at least recoiled from. Instead, she put her hand steadily on Kira’s and, dipping her head, kissed her full on the lips. 

It lasted no more than a second. They pulled apart. Kira stared, half in shock and half in pleasant surprise. Keiko looked back, eyes solemn but not judgemental. Her hand was still on Kira’s. She pulled her hand away. 

‘I… I need to…’ She got to her feet. ‘Excuse me.’ 

‘Nerys,’ Keiko called after her. Kira hurried down the slope, forcing herself to not look back. When she was sure Keiko could not longer see her, she ducked behind a tree and sank down against the trunk. Her knees shook even when she sat. Her stomach felt like she had only just noticed an ambush and changed the route she was heading. Her throat felt constricted, almost like she was going to be sick. But amid all those things that she associated with battle, she felt giddy and light. The world around her felt sharp. She was uncomfortably aware of her body. That one, small kiss had been enough to render her more helpless and excited than anything Bareil or Shakaar or any man had done. 

Kira took a few deep breaths and said a prayer for self-discipline. When she let her hands fall, ending the prayer, she felt better. There was an obvious way around all this, she thought. She would have to avoid Keiko, at least for a while. It should not be difficult to find an excuse, she reasoned. The station was a big place, and they were leaving Torad V tomorrow. All she had to do was to not slip up until then. 

Twenty-six hours later, she lay in the infirmary, sore and uncomfortable. Her body did not feel like her own anymore, turned into something unfamiliar. _So much for avoiding her,_ she thought, putting her hand on the bump of her belly, where Keiko’s baby was nestled.


End file.
